costumes

There's lots of advice out there about what not to be on Halloween—people dressing up as "Indians" and domestic abusers, I'm looking at you—but not a lot of advice for actually good costumes. Here's a fun list we put together of pop-culture-inspired costumes.

Halloween is a time to bust out that creativity, play into the fantasy, and eat a ton of candy. It's not a time to push adult sexuality or hyped up ideas of ideal bodies onto young kids. I'd rather by scared on Halloween by ghosts and goblins than by thoughts of little kids running amok in overly sexualized costumes.

Halloween is a notorious time for offensive outfits. If you're still not sure what your costume is going to be this year, make sure you don't go the culturally appropriative route. Dressing up as "another culture," is racist, and an act of privilege. Fortunately, thanks to some college students behind Students Teaching About Racism in Society (STARS), an Ohio University organization, cultural appropriation is getting some more attention through their series of posters boldly challenge racist costume ideas.

Sure, there's Rosie, Lady Gaga, and this lovely list of pun-tastic pro-choice outfits for you to choose from, but it still seems like it's hard for feminists to get a break on Halloween! Here are some suggestions from the Bitch Media office....

Happy All Hallow's Eve Eve! Here is a video from The Onion to get you in the spirit. Warning: It paints a pretty stereotypical portrait of "effeminate" boys, but more than that it parodies parents' fear that their sons aren't (gasp!) manly enough: